If space is the final frontier, black holes are the proverbial Bermuda Triangle.
You shouldn¡¯t go there, it¡¯s surrounded by legend and theories, and ready to swallow you into the abyss. Of course, similar to how the Bermuda Triangle turned out to be a pervasive myth, there may actually be some black holes we can theoretically enter.
Most physicist don¡¯t doubt that entering smaller black holes would ¡°spaghettify¡± you (and yes that¡¯s the actual term for it). That means the intense gravity would basically stretch your entire body out onto a string of atoms. But new research from an international team of scientists now say there may be certain black holes that could theoretically pass through, though it would have some¡ side effects.
In the report published last week, the research says that observers entering certain kinds of theoretical black holes wouldn¡¯t necessarily be destroyed. Instead, entering the black hole would destroy their past life, stopping them from ever returning, and give them access to an infinite number of futures.?
It all comes down to Einstein¡¯s theory of relativity, which states that gravity is a part of spacetime. As others like Stephen Hawking agree, the space-time continuum is a function of matter, energy and motion. This curvature of space-time is felt as gravity. The thing is, black holes have a mass so dense, compacted into their centre that it forms something called a space-time singularity. Nothing escapes out from here, even light. The reach of this singularity forms the event horizon, the ¡°point of no return¡±, through which we can¡¯t see anything.?
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Physics, meanwhile, works because the universe is deterministic i.e. if you know the starting conditions of the universe you can predict how it will develop. Some scientists believe this also includes cognitive function like your thoughts and actions. After all, thought is only a function of your neurons interacting right? And they themselves are just matter. Basically, determinism states that the known past leads to one single future.
The problem for physicists is, we can¡¯t see beyond a black hole¡¯s event horizon, though we know for sure singularities have to exist. The current theory is that, once you pass through a border in the event horizon (known as the Cauchy horizon) space-time is condensing to an infinite point. Because of this, you¡¯d experiencing the intake of all the light, matter, and energy that will ever enter the black hole, simultaneously. This is supposedly what will spaghettify you.?
However, the new theory published also points out the existing belief that that the universe is expanding at an increasing rate. So while space-time is condensing in a black hole, it¡¯s also being pulled apart by the expansion of the universe. Then instead of all the energy in the universe hitting the Cauchy horizon at the same time, only a smaller portion of the energy in the universe will make it in, because it can¡¯t travel from the edges of the universe faster than the speed of light.
The accelerating expansion of the universe pretty much cancels out the contraction of space-time in the black hole, and therefore the time dilation you¡¯d experience. In theory, given the right kind of black hole and the right conditions, you could avoid the singularity entirely and just live forever in a universe that¡¯s unpredictable.?
Think of it like that scene from Interstellar, where the ship steers right into the singularity. Ignore the strange way Matthew McConaughey manages to affect changes in the past, that might be a just a tad too far fetched. However, you do see time changes for him, and his daughter is an old woman on her deathbed when he finally gets back. That¡¯s the old theory. The new one is that he wouldn¡¯t ever escape, wouldn¡¯t ever age.
Instead he¡¯d transcend, becoming a being beyond the reach of time. He¡¯d live forever and never at the same time. After all, when time stops would you even be able to think? He¡¯d be just a concept with unlimited futures, none of which can really be fulfilled. Just infinity.